Citation

Ago M, Ago K, Ogata M. Leg. Med. (Elsevier) 2009; 11(1): S568-S569.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Japanese Society of Legal Medicine, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.01.086

PMID

19269234

Abstract

A female in her late thirties, who was hospitalized for 13 days with rib fractures suffered in a traffic accident, was found in supine position on the patient's bed in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest. The resuscitation failed to recover consciousness and her death was confirmed 1.75h later. The autopsy revealed neither severe injuries nor lesion as a cause of death. Histological examinations revealed contraction band necrosis (CBN) in the cardiac muscle of the left and right ventricles, as well as congestion and edema in both lungs. Toxicological screening of urine using Triage revealed the presence of methamphetamine (MA). By gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), the concentrations of MA and its metabolite amphetamine (AP) in the heart blood were shown to be 0.178 and 0.051mug/ml, respectively. From these findings, we conclude that the cause of her death was circulatory failure due to MA poisoning. Further, the stored scalp hair analysis demonstrated both MA and AP in 0-3cm segments from the scalp. The results suggested that she was a MA abuser at least about 3 months before her death. In this case, preservation of hair samples collected during an autopsy was useful for providing evidence of MA abuse.

Language: en